[[Yasser Arafat]] was a prominent Palestinian leader. He was aligned with [[Syria]] at one point and attempted to negotiate with the [[Iran|Iranians]] to secure the release of [[USA|American]] hostages in April 1980, but was rebuffed as he could not guarantee arms sales to [[Iran]].[^1] [[Yasser Arafat|Arafat's]] group was blamed by [[Abu Nidal]] for certain Palestinian factions warring among themselves. [[Yasser Arafat|Arafat]] also had secret talks with [[Yitzhak Shamir]] and the [[Likud Party]] leadership in 1988 and 1989 regarding a peace plan that would create a Palestinian state in [[Jordan]].[^1] During the [[Gulf War]] in 1991, [[Yasser Arafat|Arafat]] publicly supported [[Saddam Hussein|Iraq]] against the [[USA|United States]], which led to him losing his standing and money sources from [[Saudi Arabia]] and other [[Persian Gulf|Gulf]] states. His credibility in the [[USA|West]] was nullified.[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992. (Hereafter, "Profits of War")